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Thursday, February 19, 2015

World Cruise - Bora Bora

Bora Bora is a tender port. That means the condition of the
surf needed to be calm enough to allow passengers to get off and on the
lifeboat tenders without a lot of trouble. We had come close to not getting
into Easter Island and I wondered if we would make it to Bora Bora. The captain
was hedging.

Thankfully the weather was a lot calmer than at Easter
Island and we were able to start all the day’s activities on time. The large
mountains in the middle of the island were shrouded however threatening the
possibility of rain. Undaunted, we made it ashore and went straight to the Avis
rental car service and were promptly told that unless we had a reservation, we
were out of luck. It seems lots of other people must have found out about the
rental cars. The attendant sent us down the street to Eurocar rentals and
without much hope, we walked there.

There were no cars in the small lot but there was a dune
buggy and the two fellows in front of us were renting that one. I was already
making mental notes of where we might go on foot to explore. When it came our
turn, we were told there was still a dune buggy to rent at the garage but no
cars. We took it. We’ve done a dune buggy here before and it was fine as long
as it didn’t rain. The sun was shining we felt confident.

After a short ride to the garage, the dune buggy was pushed
out, Bob was given instructions, and we were on our way through the extremely
bumpy streets of the town. I hoped the roads were going to get better once we
got out of the congestion of the town.

They did. Soon we were on smoother pavement and enjoying the
ride even though it sounded like we were on a riding lawn mower. It was
clouding over though and the pretty lagoons and bays that we had seen in the
past were getting dark and wind tossed. As a matter of fact, as we went around
one curve, we found ourselves buffeted by high winds. If we’d have had a
windshield and doors, the little car probably would have been blown from one
side of the road to the other.

Our rental time was for two hours and it takes about an hour
to drive all the way around the island. Since we weren’t stopping much to take
pictures, we had plenty of time to stop in at the famous Bloody Mary restaurant
and bar. It’s a funky kind of place with sand for floors and a thatched roof.
And of course is a takeoff on the South Pacific character.

We sat at a Tiki bar since the restaurant wasn’t open for
lunch yet, ordered some beverages, and connected with the WiFi. The internet on
the ship had been so intermittent that it was driving us crazy. We spent about
a half hour just catching up on email and Facebook and talking with some people
whose plans had changed because of the weather. They were from Michigan and had
canceled their boat rental when they saw the choppy seas. Good thing because as
we went out of the restaurant, it started raining in earnest.

The dune buggy had to be back in fifteen minutes and we
still had to fill the tank. We donned our sunglasses to protect from the
pelting rain and wind and held onto our hats as we took off down the road. Rain
began to whip our faces and arms and at one point I yelled for Bob to slow down
because it felt like thousands of needles hitting us. It turned out when we
finally stopped I realized it wasn’t the rain that hurt so much. We had been
pelted by sand picked up by the wind and thrown at us as well. Little pieces of
it still clung to my skin.

The good news was we made it back in time with a full tank
of gas and. . .I had a free exfoliation treatment, one that would have been
pretty expensive in the spa on board. Not only that but we had a great story to
share at the table during dinner.

The afternoon melted away the morning’s rain and clouds and
the island shone green in the sunshine. It truly is beautiful—even in the rain.
We watched it disappear from our vantage point in the Palm Court Deck 12 as we
played our early evening round of rummy and enjoyed hors d’oeuvres.